Oneshots
by behinde
Summary: Oneshots for the friendships between the VKs
1. Evie and Carlos

Evie and Carlos

„Knock knock, it's me," Carlos said as he entered Evie's and Mal's room. Mal wasn't there, probably out somewhere with Ben, and Evie was sitting at her desk, cutting a piece of cloth. She looked up and smiled at the boy.

„So what is it you needed?" he asked and stepped closer, Dude trailing right behind him as he always did. Evie stood up and grabbed a measuring tape. „I need to take your measurements. I have a great idea for a new outfit!" she explained cheerfully. Carlos looked at her confusedly and said, „But you already took them. I haven't changed since."

„Oh but I'm sure you grew a little! A whole inch even!", she assured him. She wouldn't say anything about the little belly he had gained since they first came to Auradon, though. Carlos looked a little flustered, but didn't say anything. „And I'm a professional, I can't let you run around with clothes that aren't a perfect fit, now, can I?"

„What kind of fabric is that?" asked Carlos, sitting on her bed while Evie was marking the pieces she'd have to cut out with chalk. Even hunched over her desk she appeared to have perfect posture. Carlos wasn't sure if it was just in her genes or if the Evil Queen was still silently scolding her daughter for every imperfection.

„Oh! Remember what you said about troll hair fibre?"

„That it's robust and stretchy?"

„Yes! I asked Ben to order fabric with the troll hair woven in and you have the honor of trying it out. Hopefully you can play with Dude as much as you want and I won't have to fix the holes in your clothes all the time." She turned around to give him a smile, only to find that he was already lying on her bed with Dude on his belly.

He sat up and scratched his freckled cheek. „Sorry.. I'm not doing it on purpose."

The not-really-a-princess sighed, but she wasn't angry with him, she could never be.

„And I was thinking," she continued as she faced her work again, „If this turns out to be as good as I think, we could send some to the isle."

Carlos tilted his head slightly and looked more like Dude than ever. „You want to send clothes to your mother?"

„No," Evie responded, „to the kids. I always had pretty clothes," she hesitated and felt the dark fabric with her fingertips, her thoughts drifting off, „I'm not sure how much my mother played into this, but it often gave me comfort, to know that I could make something of myself, despite all the filth and sorrow around me, even though for her it was never quite enough.. And I figured, even if the other kids have nothing else going for them, they can at least feel pretty every once in a while."

Carlos had gotten up to have a closer look at the fabric. Even Dude waddled to her side, aware of the mood change in the room.

The boy, who was an inch taller now, maybe, took a piece of troll hair fabric and examined it, although he was just trying to cover up the fact that he was searching for the right words to say.

„And besides, on the isle you need durable clothes. Those rags they are wearing are not suitable for the environment," Evie added to break the silence.

Carlos smiled at her softly. „Maybe it will show them that good isn't so bad after all.. And it will turn my mother green with envy. She may have been a fashion mogul once, but something was always missing from her creations, and it was not dalmatian fur."

Evie squeezed his hand in gratitude and then continued to work on his clothes.

There was something about this boy that always brought light to wherever he went. And everyday Evie thanked her lucky stars that, even after all the horrible things he had lived through, his light and warmth had not faded one bit.


	2. Mal and Jay

„BAM! HAHA!" Mal shouted and threw her arms up, holding a pair of nunchuk controllers, „I win! Again!" She looked triumphantly at Jay who was trying to look angry, but couldn't keep himself from smiling. „You cheated!" he accused her, but knew it wasn't true.

Mal pouted and gave him a pitiful look, „Aw, always the sore loser. Would it make you feel better if I say I cheated?"

Jay chuckled and put his pair of nunchuks aside. „Really? You would do something to make someone else feel better?", he said, smiling at her with raised eyebrows.

„Psh, it was just a joke." She walked over to the table and sat on a chair next to it, suddenly getting more serious. „And besides, I'm not big bad Mal anymore. Remember what Fairy Godmother said in goodness class the other day: Doing good things will make you feel good as well. Also Ben keeps telling me I should have more confidence in being nice to others. I'm still not used to it.." She was fiddling with her fingers and avoiding Jay's gaze.

The former thief slouched on his bed and thought about her words for a moment. „Yeah, me neither. I mean, just imagine what the people back on the isle would say if they knew we where just hanging out as friends without plotting our next evil coup."

'I don't care what they would say' is what Mal wanted to answer, but she wasn't entirely sure if that was true. Even after all the time they had spent in Auradon, sometimes she still felt like she wasn't living up to someone's expectaion. That someone being Maleficent herself. On the isle, her bad reputation was so important to Mal, and it was a weird feeling that it didn't matter anymore. That not everything she did had to be because of some evil scheme.

„Back then, we wouldn't even admit that we were friends," she said, blushing slightly.

Jay crossed his arms behind his head and smiled. „That's so dumb."

Mal looked up, surprised by his response, „What?"

„Not that we're friends! I mean it was dumb how we acted like 'only partners in crime' and that we were just 'tolerating each other' and 'using each other for our own purposes'. Because the others would have made fun of us.. joke's on them..," he grumbled.

It had been clear for a long time that Mal and Jay had become friends, but they had never adressed it before and it was nice to be able to express it without dealing with the pressure of what others might think.

They both stayed silent for a while until Mal finally looked at him, „Do you think I should apologize to Evie and Carlos?"

Jay sat up. „Why, what did you do?"

She shrugged, „You know, some pretty horrible things. I never told them that I'm sorry."

„Hm, I'm sure they know. And I'm sure they have already forgiven you.. but they'll appreciate it."

„Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

Jay smiled, it always made him feel good when someone cared about his opinion. „Wanna go for another round? This time I'll win for sure!"

Mal stood from her chair. „Aren't you afraid I'll cheat again?" she asked while grabbing her nunchuks.  
„Nah, you're way too nice to do such a thing."


	3. Evie and Jay

Jay was sitting down on his bed, shortly after Carlos had left with Dude, to take a nap. Tourney practice had been intense lately so he was eating and sleeping a lot to keep up his energy.

But as soon as he so much as touched the mattress, the door swung open and in came Evie with a bag in one and a towell in the other hand.

„I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said, clearly not meaning it, „I need you to help me out."

„Actually I was just-" „Great! Sit on a chair, please." She was being very cheery as she often was and spread the contents of her bag on the table.

„Are you gonna do something to my hair?" Jay asked as he looked at a brush, a comb and several hair clips. He wasn't too excited about not taking his nap, but he just couldn't turn Evie down, especially when she was in such a good mood.

Even though he was sure Evie was aware of that.

„Yes!" answered Evie, clapping her hands together, „Doug and I made a conditioner and I want to try it out!"

Jay took a seat reluctantly. „Why aren't you trying it yourself? It's not gonna make me bald, is it?"

„Probably not. But if we did something wrong I'd rather it split your ends than mine."

„As if anyone would notice split ends," Jay said, rolling his eyes.

„..I would." she responded quietly. Jay was about to apologize, he knew it was hard for Evie to allow imperfections, but she cut him off, „Just do this for me, pleeeeease. I'll owe you one! Besides, I know a certain someone who'd love it too." She gave him a sweet smile and fluttered her eyelashes and he had to admit defeat.

„Fine..," he grumbled, „Wait, before you put anything on my head I want to know what's in it."

„Well, it's mostly veggie oils to make the hair smooth and silky. And for the odor we used hibiscus and apples – the non-poisonous kind."

She put the towell around Jay's shoulders and took the lid off a small plastic bowl that contained her creation. After his hair was covered with the conditioner Evie instructed him to wait for ten minutes and then wash it out.

Jay felt like he had just gotten a head massage and was now even more tired than before. „I bet I look really stupid right now," he mumbled and propped his chin with one hand.

„Yeah, but you're gonna look beautiful after!"

Jay pretended to be offended, „Are you saying I don't look beautiful _all_ the time?"

„Okay, you're gonna look _even more_ beautiful than ususal."

„If my hair doesn't fall out."

Evie started to clean up her things and Jay just sat there with his eyes closed and shrouded by the scent apple and hibiscus, which almost lulled him to sleep.

„Shh, he doesn't know that."

After a few minutes Jay was woken up by whispers. „What do I not know?" he asked sleepily.

Carlos had returend and was sitting on his bed next to Evie and Dude. He gestured to Jay's hair and said, „Erm.. that I'm not feeling this whole look."  
„Oh, shut up," Jay responded.

Evie jumped up excitedly, „Okay, time to wash it out!"

Jay came back into their room, rubbing his head with a towell. „I have to admit, it smells great, but I don't think it made any difference."

Evie walked over to him and started feeling his hair, „Are you kidding me? It's totally different! The other girls are gonna love it!"

She gave him a quick hug and made her way towards the door. „I gotta go tell Doug, thanks sweetie!"

Carlos was still sitting on his bed, scratching Dude's head and smiling at Jay gleefully. „She didn't tell you all the ingredients, did she?"

Jay raised one eyebrow. „Why, what was in it?"

Carlos shrugged, „Oh, it's not that important, really."


	4. Mal and Carlos

Actually, they were all supposed to be doing homework together, Mal, Ben, Carlos, Evie and Jay. But Evie ditched them for Doug, which no-one could really blame her for, and Jay and Ben left earlier to join a spontaneously set tourney practice, which left Mal and Carlos to do their homework without them.

Not that this was a problem, Mal and Carlos were friends, after all, it was just that the two of them never really spend time together without anyone else.

The were sitting by the table in the girls' dorm in an awkward silence, while Mal was basically just copying Carlos' results for their math problems.

„You know, if you'd let me explain it to you, you could do it yourself", Carlos said. He wouldn't say it, but he always felt good when there was something he was better at than others. It made him feel like he wasn't worthless after all.

Mal smiled absentmindedly and said, „Yeah, I appreciate that, but it's not that I dont understand, I just don't feel like it today.."

Carlos wasn't convinced she really understood the process but didn't dig further, instead he tried to make sense of her expression. „What's the matter?"

Mal sighed , still smiling, and put her pencil aside. „Promise me you won't laugh, I'll end you if you laugh."

Even though Mal had changed, even though he knew that she wouldn't really hurt him and even though she smiled as she said it, sometimes he was still worried, sometimes he was still scared when she said things like this. He blamed it on himself for not being trusting enough, but he couldn't help but being intimidated by her. She probably didn't do it on purpose, but somehow the air around her still reminded him of the old Mal.

He tried to shrug it off and act calm when he responded, „Promise." All worries aside, it was somehow exciting that Mal was about to share a secret with him.

„It's just that.. I'm in love", she said, playing with a strand of her hair.

Carlos couldn't help but be a little disappointed. „But.. that's not a secret. Everyone knows that."

„Yes, but it still feels so weird saying it, you know? All my life, I never even considered that I'd ever feel this way", she smirked at Carlos, „You've got to try it sometime."

Carlos avoided her look, but smiled at what she said. It was a strange feeling that Mal just talked to him like that, he'd assumed she only ever talked about things like this with Evie.

„What's it like?", he asked, immediately hoping he hadn't crossed a line.

But instead of lashing out or snapping at him like he expected, she just looked into the distance while she kept on smiling. Probably she really did change.

„Hm...How do I describe it without being really corny?", Mal thought for a second, „It's like, you see the other person and instantly feel good. They make you smile and laugh and blush", and she blushed as soon as she said it, „and they're always on your mind. And.. sometimes Ben makes me really nervous, but like, in a good way. You just want to spend as much time with them as possible."

With every word Carlos realized more and more that, even if she was the daughter of Maleficent, she was also a girl. And for the first time he knew, really knew, she would never harm him again.

„And you wanna know the weirdest thing? Sometimes I wear Ben's shirts because I really like his smell. I literally had no clue that that was a thing, but apparently it's normal when you're in love."

The situation was still a little awkward. Mal's cheeks were red, and Carlos was blushing too, he never had a conversation like that before.

„That sounds really great, actually", he said, thinking about a person who might made him feel like that.

Mal looked at Carlos compassionately and tried to make eye contact. „You know, I wasn't prepared for a lot of things that happened.. but if you ever want to know something, you can always ask me, okay?"

That made Carlos only blush more. He wasn't ready to talk about his own feelings like that, but he was infinitely happy that he had seen this side of Mal. „Well, I wasn't prepared for suddenly getting a big sister."

Mal laughed and ruffled his hair, „Now THAT was corny."


End file.
